June 7, 2011 -- Westchester County's interpretive farm, Muscoot Farm in Somers, has received a Heritage Advocate Award, sponsored by Heritage Preservation, a national non-profit organization, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), a federal agency.
Muscoot earned this $3,750 award for its "Treasure Hunt Series" project, which educated the public about the risks faced by historical collections and the importance of appropriate care to protect these treasures.
Muscoot staff developed a series of programs focusing on the farm's "non-living" features. The staff utilized ideas from a Heritage Preservation and IMLS-sponsored workshop and recognized that visitors are interested in the historical aspects of Muscoot in addition to the everyday happenings in the farm's fields and barnyard. Participants in the program toured the farm extensively, from buildings and farm implements to the hand-made milking stool crafted by a farm hand in the 1930s.
Connecting the public to the collection and its care and the significance of Westchester County's agrarian past culminated in a tour of the farm's Main House.
The award amount was matched by the not-for-profit Friends of Muscoot; the funds will be administered by the group and will be re-invested into the care of the farm's collections.
The Heritage Advocate Awards are part of Connecting to Collections: A Call to Action, a multi-faceted national initiative of the IMLS. First place was shared by Muscoot and the Missouri State Museum in Jefferson City, Mo.